Carnet de Passage

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The Carnet de Passages en Douane (CPD) is a customs document that identifies a driver's motor vehicle. It is required in order to take a vehicle into a significant but diminishing number of countries around the world.

1 Usage
2 Countries where a CPD is accepted
3 Countries where a CPD is required
4 External links

[edit] Usage

The Carnet allows travellers to temporarily import their vehicles without having to leave a cash deposit at the border. It is, in essence, an international guarantee for payment of customs duties and taxes to a government should the vehicle not be re-exported from that country. Persons who temporarily import their vehicles into countries where the Carnet is required must agree to obey the laws and regulations of that country and particularly the conditions of temporary importation.

The Carnet contains relevant information about the vehicle – make, model, colour, engine capacity, seating capacity, registration number, owner and value.

In order to obtain a Carnet, the owner of a vehicle is required to provide a security based on the age and market value of the vehicle. Generally three types of security are acceptable from motoring organisations:

Cash bond;
Banker's letter of indemnity;
Insurance policy.

Motorists can obtain a Carnet de Passages en Douane from their national automobile association or touring club.

The following bodies are authorised to issue a Carnet:

United Kingdom - RAC

[edit] Countries where a CPD is accepted

[edit] Africa

In certain African countries, the CPD is not officially required, but is often used to facilitate temporary importation of a vehicle. Countries where the CPD may be used include: Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Côte d'Ivoire, Congo, Egypt, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau,Kenya, Lesotho, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Namibia, Niger, Senegal, Somalia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, and Zimbabwe.

[edit] Americas

Argentina, Brazil (not required for vehicles entering by land routes, but required for vehicles arriving by boat), Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dutch Antilles, Ecuador, Jamaica, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Surinam, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay, and Venezuela.

[edit] Asia and Middle East

Bahrain, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malaysia, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Syria, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.

[edit] Europe

Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Italy, Monaco, Netherlands, and Turkey. In these European countries, the CPD is required only for certain categories of vehicles. The CPD is not required in these countries for private cars.

[edit] Oceania

Australia, New Zealand, and Vanuatu.

[edit] Countries where a CPD is required

This list has countries that are known to require a CPD but there may be more that are not yet verified.

[edit] Africa

Kenya, Egypt, Senegal(for vehicles older than 5 years)], South Africa

All other countries have a mechanism for temporarily importing a vehicle. This document is often referred as Passavant, LaizzePasse or SalvoConducto. A small fee is often charged to obtain it, and it allows the vehicle to be imported and driven for up to 1 month. It replaces the Carnet in that country, and should be returned to the customs office upon leaving the country.

The only countries which do not issue passavants, and hence a carnet is required to enter are: Senegal and Egypt.

Update : From 2006 Senegal is easening the requirement for Carnet de Passage. It is only required in the North Border , and drivers usually get through without carnet by paying a variable amount of around 80 -100 Euros

in 2006 also , Egypt has now Its own carnet , available for those without a valid Carnet-De-Passage at the borders . It still requires a cash deposit (up to 2000 Euros) which is returned upon exit.